Same here and I would welcome them in the barn to eat any bugs. We used to have a log barn before we built this one and they just loved to hang out between the logs.
Critters and wildlife in your area - post your pics
- Thread starter Oh Little Oji
- Start date
Cferg
Notable member
My shop is double walled and insulated between the layers of galvalume siding. My first year owning the building, it was the end of may I believe. I started seeing some mice droppings in the corner. A couple of days later there was a bat flying around inside that was trying to get back to this same corner. He was trying to get in between the ceiling and the inside wall. I walked around the outside of the shop to that same corner. The sun was hitting that side of the building I could hear something screeching and moving around in between the walls it sounded like thousands inside there.
I got ahold of an exterminator and met them at my shop around dusk so he could see where they were coming out of. So he could seal the points of entry. When it started to get dark they were coming out by the dozens for a solid 20 minutes.
Don't worry about rabies or your dog eating their poop? I mean that's the thing I thought about when I saw that one on the ground! It seems so unusual. We actually see them flying around here all the time at night. And I think it's great that they're eating all the bugs . I don't know where they are during the day! LOL I'm just not sure I want them in my barn.
It was unusual to be on the ground, but the one I caught in my house and took it outside acted stunned and flapped but wouldn't fly when I put it on the ground. After a minute it flew off normally. I think they are disoriented when in the daylight, but I'm just guessing. As for rabies, your dogs have their vaccines, they won't get rabies, and bat poop would not affect a dog any more than than mice or rabbit poop. Rabies is ONLY spread from saliva from infected animal via injury/broken skin of victim. In other words, a bite. Very, very few bats carry rabies, the numbers look higher because only bats that are acting out of ordinary are tested:
It has been estimated that <1% of wild bats in endemic regions are infected with rabies virus (RV) at any given time (Childs 2002). Prevalence data from diagnostic laboratories are not a true indicator of rabies incidence among wild bats as most of these animals had been in contact with humans or domestic animals or were displaying abnormal behaviors such as being grounded or flying during the day. Depending on the geographic location, the species most commonly submitted to diagnostic laboratories are the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, and the Mexican free-tailed bat, Tadarida brasiliensis. Approximately 17% of E. fuscus and 16% of T. brasiliensis submitted to diagnostic laboratories in Colorado and Texas were rabies positive (Pape et al. 1999, Rohde et al. 2004). In New York, 1,241 of the 36,506 (3.3%) E. fuscus submitted to the New York State Diagnostic Laboratory diagnostic between 1988 and 2007 were found to be rabid (NYSDOH 2009). Conversely, the number of bats reported rabid from field studies is very low, and large outbreaks have not been reported (Constantine 1978, Steece and Altenbach 1989). Unlike healthy bats, which typically avoid interaction with humans, it is the bat that comes into contact with humans which is submitted to public health laboratories, consequently explaining the discrepancy between rabies in wild bat populations and rabies in bats submitted to public health laboratories.
So there you have some Bat Facts! There are colonizing bats like @Cferg had in his building which would cause damage to the building and I can see blocking that. Red bats don't colonize like that. Anyway, everyone has to do what they have to do and I respect that. I just like to inform with facts to people are less afraid of them.
And you did just that! I feel much better about it now. Thank you!
"so" people are less afraid...
Those are great shots!
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
Sorry about the sad quality of the pics. It was at the extreme of zoom capabilities but it does show our Wedgetail Eagle in all it's majesty. This is why small dogs disappear out this way if not kept close!
Jazz was under the tree going ballistic!
Jazz was under the tree going ballistic!
What a magnificent bird!
Wow! Never apologize for quality over quantity! LOL I think that's a cool shot and I love seeing those big birds! Look at those wings! Those huge birds always amaze and Delight me!
Just driving down the road yesterday I spotted two Hawks way up on a telephone pole. My husband was driving and didn't see them. But even when I'm driving I can spot them a mile away! It's just something my eyes gravitate to. I can tell when there's something sitting way up high that is not part of the pole LOL and I always love seeing it. They're such a majestic bird!
So I was just out back walking with Annie and she kind of lagged behind me for a moment. When I called her to me I noticed her hair raised on her back!
I started looking around like, holy crap, what's out here that scared her?! 
On the way back she was heading towards something in the grass and I went to investigate. And crap, this is what I found!
What the hell is that! I showed it to a friend of mine and she thought either a cat or a rabbit. I didn't get a great picture because I wanted Annie out of there! I guess I could go back and take a better shot but you know what it looked like? Like a chicken that you would get at the store; a leg and a thigh. It didn't have any fur or anything on it and it didn't look like it was even gnawed on. Creepy though.
Gosh, the things I find on my back property.
I started looking around like, holy crap, what's out here that scared her?! On the way back she was heading towards something in the grass and I went to investigate. And crap, this is what I found!
What the hell is that! I showed it to a friend of mine and she thought either a cat or a rabbit. I didn't get a great picture because I wanted Annie out of there! I guess I could go back and take a better shot but you know what it looked like? Like a chicken that you would get at the store; a leg and a thigh. It didn't have any fur or anything on it and it didn't look like it was even gnawed on. Creepy though.
Gosh, the things I find on my back property.
jazzies mum
Hot Topics Subscriber
Definitely looks like a cat paw. 
I suppose Koyotes would take a cat. Our Dingos would.
I suppose Koyotes would take a cat. Our Dingos would.
Oh yeah. I'm sure that's what it was. I've heard of a lot of cats that went missing. I just hope it's not my neighbors next door with the Fjords. I think hers are mostly in her barn but I think they are free too. I'm not going to ask. Not even sure I will tell her even if she says she's missing one. She loves all her animals and that would be heartbreaking to know.Definitely looks like a cat paw.
Scavengers must have gotten it overnight because I just was out there looking for it to pick it up and couldn't find anything except a small piece.
I know it's not easy for you, but if they eat the mice you wouldn't have to have the traps. They won't stay if the mice population goes down. I'm not dissing your phobia, everyone has something they just can't tolerate. Just sayin'. Way different if it's a venomous snake that would hurt dogs or people.
Oh my gosh!! Adorable!
remy
Active Member
What do you guys think about this fox? It obviously doesn’t have much hair and looks thin. It’s been around for months and it just doesn’t look healthy to me… Doesn’t seem to be getting any better either. I saw it earlier in the field behind the house then just now in the backyard. They are building so much near me it’s probably running out of places to go…
